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With its purchase of Michigan's Suburban Collection last week, Lithia Motors Inc. adds a portfolio of nearly three dozen stores in the Upper Midwest, a previously untapped region for the Medford, Ore., company and key to its plans to blanket the country with dealerships.
Also important to Lithia's strategy as it enters the region is Suburban CEO David Fischer Jr.'s agreement to stay on board to run the 34 stores and 56 franchises acquired in the deal, which will add $2.4 billion in annual revenue to Lithia.
It also makes the retailer the second-largest dealership group in the country going forward.